Heel garment and combination footwear and heel garment



s. HAIG 3,380,178

TION FOOTWEAR AND HEEL GARMENT April 30, 1968 HEEL GARMENT AND COMBINA l t av m m w a h I s 2 l I -II I i ll 6 l u "I I 5 h V! i\ 1\.| h l i i I i i I I I I I 6 e 7 u 9 II 1 I I I 8 I l l l m l p A d e l 1 F INVENTOR. 424 [IA/6" BY W+1 M April 30, 1968 s. HAIG 3,380,178

HEEL GARMENT AND COMBINATION FOOTWEAR AND HEEL GARMENT Filed April 8, 1966 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 4 INVENTOR. $424 1/416 BY W United States Patent Office 3,380,178 HEEL GARMENT AND COMBINATION FOOTWEAR AND HEEL GARMENT Sarah Haig, 811 Noble Ave., Bronx, N.Y. 10472 Filed Apr. 8, 1966, Ser. No. 541,352 4 Claims. (Cl. 36-25) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A heel garment and combination foot wear and heel garment providing a heel covering underlying the heel of a foot with the sides of the garment extending upward to engage the rear and sides of the foot. An integral strap either over the instep or an extending strap from the underlying portion to a toe of the foot maintains the garment in fixed position on the foot.

The present invention relates to a heel garment and combination footwear and heel garment.

In the past various coverings have been provided for feet or parts of the foot, such coverings have generally beetrli designed to be either protective or unobtrusive, or bot Both for decoration and protection against the vicissitudes of the weather, garments and adornments have been provided for various parts of the body.

Heretofore the heel has been a neglected area both for decoration by garment and for protection against the weather, such as cold or sun.

Heel protectors have been provided in the past adapted to protect the heel of the foot against chafing in shoes or to protect stockings or socks against excessive wear at the bee Some toe devices have been provided for decorative purposes while other devices for the toe have been provided for protection against stocking wear. Foot slipovers have been provided either as stocking protectors or as foot covering concealed in shoes for stockingless dress, yet garments have not been provided as a garment for exposure comfort and decoration exclusively for the heel of the foot, other than heel protectors, mostly concealed.

According to the present invention a garment is provided for the heel of the foot. The garment is meant to serve normal garment functions, be exposed or worn separately and is further adapted to be used in conjunction with heelless shoes in various style patterns.

Although such novel feature or featurers believed to be characteristic of the invention are pointed out in the claims, the invention and the manner in which it may be carried out may be reference to the description following and the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a heel garment of the present invention shown with a backless piece of footwear.

FIG. 2 is another heel garment of the present invention held in place by attachment to a toe.

FIG. 3 is an underside view of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is another heel garment of the present invention of rubber.

FIG. 5 is another heel garment of the present invention with an elastic top.

FIG. 6 is another heel garment of the present invention of leather with a zipper.

3,380,178 Patented Apr. 30, 1968 FIG. 7 is another heel garment of the present invention with laces.

Referring now to the figures in greater detail, where like reference numbers denote like parts in the various figures.

The heel garment 1 as shown in FIG. 1 comprises a unitary piece of fabric 2 having a heel-shaped portion 3 and an integral band 4 adapted to loop about the instep 5 of the foot. The heel garment 1 has an arbitrary design in this case adapted to match the toe 7 of the backless shoe 8 with which the heel garment 1 is worn.

In use, the foot 9 may be slipped through the top opening 10 of the heel garment 1 and adjusted so that the band 4 rests on the instep 5 with the rest of the foot 9 protruding.

As shown in FIG. 1, a matching combination of backless shoe 8 and heel garment 1 may be worn. Different designs and colors of heel garments 1 of the present invention may be worn for optional style effects, both with or without backless shoes 8.

It is preferable that the fabric 2 has some elasticity so that the heel of the foot 9 may be snugly enveloped by the heel garment 1 to avoid slippage and to presesnt a neat appearance.

In FIGS. 2 and 3 a heel garment 11 is shown of an elastic fabric such as helenca, adapted to cling to the rough narrowing portion 12 of the foot 9 and both for decorative and retention purposes, an elastic strap 13 is extended to the big toe 14 and is engageable over the big toe 14 as a ring 15 which may be elastic or even metal.

The heel garment 11 may be worn either alone or in conjunction with a backless shoe 8 as shown in FIG. 1.

In FIG. 4 a heel garment 16 is substantially the same as the heel garment 1 of FIG. 1 except the heel garment 16 is made of an elastic substance, such as rubber, giving it strength, hugging capacity and greater wear resistance when worn independent of a backless shoe 8.

The embodiment of the heel garment 17 of the present invention in FIG. 5 includes a fabric body 18 and an elastic fabric top 19 for holding it in position when worn.

The heel garment 20 as shown in FIG. 6 is of leather with a zipper 21 providing an opening 22 enabling the foot to more easily slip into the heel garment 20. The zipper 21 also serves to provide a decorative effect.

The heel garment 23 as shown in FIG. 7 may be of leather or fabric. Where the heel garment 23 is made of an inflexible substance such as leather, it is especially convenient to have laces 24 so that the heel garment 23 may be held snugly and also have the decorative effect of the laces.

The terms and expressions which are employed are used as terms of description; it is recognized, though, that various modifications are possible within the scope of the invention claimed.

Having thus described certain forms of the invention in some detail, what is claimed is:

1. In combination with a separate backless shoe having an upper portion and a tread surface, an outer foot garment comprising a separate heel of unitary construction normally exposed in use having an upper opening adapted to receive a foot therethrough, an integral band portion adapted to cover the instep of said foot, and an integral heel-shaped portion, said integral heel shaped portion adapted to underlie said heel and engage the rear and sides thereof, said integral heel shaped portion terminating at the arch of said foot.

2. A heel garment comprising a heel-shaped portion adapted to underlie said heel and engage the rear and sides thereof, a retaining strap, said retaining strap aflixed at one end to the base of said heel-shaped portion, and means to attach the other end of said retaining strap to a toe of said foot.

3. The heel garment of claim 2 wherein said strap attaching means comprises a ring on said retaining strap adapted to fit over said toe.

4. The. heel garment of claim 3 wherein said ring is elastic.

v References Cited UNITED STATES-PATENTS 1,066,370 7/1913 BOneStell 261 1,999,929 4/1935 Hearn 2-239 2,193,056 3/1940 Bnrn 2-239 2,865,024 12/1958 Lundy 2-61 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,091,304 4/1955 France.

467,680 10/1928 Germany.

PATRICK D. LAWSON, Primary Examiner. 

